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YCI Creates Intercultural Toolkit for Diverse Partners to Work Together

Memphis YCI Leni Stoeva collaborates with Bulgaria YCI Hub to produce new resourceParticipants take part in a group exercise at the Bottom Up Culture Project, an event organized by the Bulgaria YCI Hub

An intercultural toolkit designed to bring partners together from diverse backgrounds has been created by a YCI Fellow.

Leni Stoeva, a member of the Memphis YCI Hub, has put forward a Cross-Partnership Development Toolkit, which will soon be available in multiple languages.

Stoeva views the toolkit as an “invitation to partnership and creativity,” which will allow individuals and organizations to gain more perspective, skills, and networks.

She said, “A significant takeaway from the [Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators] is new relationships formed. 21st century Europe is facing a growing complexity of societies and a standardization of lifestyles and cultures.

“Meanwhile, USA is facing a time of self-segregation based on class, race, and values at the root of the country’s pressing problems. The world’s future depends on inter-community connection and partnerships that foster understanding between people who may have little in common.”

Stoeva, who attended the third session of the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators in 2016, created the resource after partnering with the Bulgaria YCI Hub.

Both worked together last year during the Bottom Up Culture Project, a project designed to highlight and discuss the current issues the creative community in Bulgaria is facing.

Stoeva helped to facilitate two consecutive sessions, the first of which was a university talk in Sofia and later a workshop in Plovdiv. Both events brought more than 60 people together.

Specific goals that were outlined ahead of the event to lead discussions included creating partnerships from a diverse set of interests, collaborating between major and smaller, local cultural institutions, establishing inter-sectoral partnerships, and introducing a specific cultural diversity strand to local partnerships.

This project held a forum that explored culture-led urban regeneration, cultural entrepreneurs, creative places, creative quarters, and neighborhood change and gentrification. After the event, Stoeva searched for the best practices of partnership development on national levels to present as a structured toolkit.

Stoeva said, “I believe that by participating in a cultural exchange seminar in Plovdiv provided me with compelling opportunities to continue conversations begun in Salzburg and foster learning across countries. With the project, we worked on identifying best practices for cross-partnership development.”

For more information about the Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators (YCI), please click here.